clinkerkid:
I was wondering when students typically hear back from USD, and what is you're opinion on my chances of getting in. I applied beginning of January with a 157 and a 3.75 in chemical engineering. The score isn't too good for this school, but I had to break my back to get the gpa. Also, is there a lot of comraderie among students, and is there a good intellectual climate (ie debates, discussions about politics, ect)?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

jwaxjwax:
I heard back pretty soon from all the schools I got into. The ones I didn't hear back from within a couple of months, or was waitlisted for, I didn't get in.USD was my 2nd acceptance.

There's kind of a good intellectual climate. It depends on who you hang out with. You talk about a lot of policy issues in class and do so much reading that most people try to talk about their other interests outside of class. Intellectual and philosophical stuff does come up, and it's not weird, because everyone's fairly smart, but I haven't heard many lengthy political discussions outside of class.